A favorite big and sexy shot.

( Cut for size )

Just wanted to let everyone know, that a new version of MemcacheD has been released. We will be rolling this out to the memcache nodes during the week of July 20th to 24th. This should have very little impact on the stability of the website; however users may see a slight increase in load times as the cache is re-populated with entries.

The software has been tested and verified to be working just fine with the application; so we perceive this to be a very minimal risk in regards to updating, and the stability of the website.

Thanks...

Boy, is that the wrong question to ask me.

I don't believe you should ever outgrow what you love.

And I *especially* believe you should never be forced or coerced or teased into giving up or being embarrassed about what you love.

I have another *found stuff* link to share because I don't want to fall back into the habit of not posting. (What I really want is to hit my stride again, and post what I want without worrying about it. I miss that. I am happy to be posting at all though - and happier than I can say to be writing again, even a little.) I haven't even been playing in my graphics games much - it leaves me too much free brain. Thank god for The Sims.

I think the personal stuff will come back once we're settled on the other side of this situation. I have high hopes that everything is going to work out well, but I am so unsettled by the changes, and that's never been what I like to share here. I get too cranky, too crazy, too boring...)

So far - our doctor couldn't figure out what is causing Jim's "barometer dizziness", and sent him to a specialist. The verdict is it's probably a viral infection or a mild case of Ménières. He has an appointment next week so they can check him for hearing loss. (Yes, this is a good answer to me - as Jim told Jory (our doctor), "You know how Tay is - she's afraid I have a brain tumor." Jory, deadpan, replied, "Yes, she's very creative." Jory actually works out of the Princeton hospital and his students do call him House.)

Next week is Jim's last week of work. Since they didn't extend his contract, I convinced him to take the last week off with some of the numerous vacation days he accumulated by never taking them because someone always needs him.

Now that we are down to the wire, he has been called in twice to handle the server room *shutting itself down* - once on the Sunday of the Holiday weekend, and then again last week at 5am. (Of course, they have no way of knowing that I am often still awake then, and if I hadn't been, Jim, who was laying on his good ear, would have slept through the call. When I realized that he was getting dressed, I thought - why did I tell him the phone was ringing?) I fully expect them to continue to call after his termination date, just because they are used to calling him for emergencies, and there won't really be anyone else to call - Ah, but if they do, it will no longer be a work call, and they will get to talk to *me* at 5 am! I hope they are prepared to pay contractor fees.

I just hope they don't call during the actual *vacation* days, because "Frederic" will feel obligated to respond.


Anyway - as I am out looking for birthday presents for Jim, here are 2 things at Think Geek that amused me



Photoshop Magnet Kit

So you can make your refrigerator look like you are photoshopping your family. Or turning your favorite actors into slash pics....

You know, I can hardly look at this picture without the urge to rearrange the work area.





Pantone Espresso Cup and Saucer Set

For those of us who know *precisely* how we like our coffee, now you can have the color and Pantone number right on the cup so your spouse will know if it's perfect before they bring it to you in bed.

Jim often brings me my beverage of choice in bed, so you can all be impressed by that. (But, you don't have to be too impressed, since my breakfast/beverage of choice is a prepackaged boxed protein shake.)

Great big piccie ( under this cut )

I just felt like this silly-looking one today.

This is his, "I just killed 8 people. Want some candy?" pose.

The same shot you've seen before of Faramir Gerold, but bigger, I think ( under the cut )

And if you haven't seen this clip, you'll want to. It amazes me that any actors can keep smiling at these photocalls. :) There are 4 more clips there at youtube thanks to ledasdaughter, for you to enjoy. I'm sure they were posted here once, but someone might have missed them. Poor guy looks really bored in #2.

Where Even The Stars Were Strange
for the challenge Blue at tolkien_weekly
Characters: Aragorn, Gandalf (2 others implied)
Book/Source: UT and The Peoples of Middle-earth

All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.

( Where Even The Stars Were Strange )

Some Tropfest shots.

( 2 more )

quote meme from: all over

Go to http://quotationspage.com/random.php3 and browse the random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe.


Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

Sometimes we do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions not answers.
John Le Carre (1931 - ), Magnus Pym in "A Perfect Spy"

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.
Franklin P. Adams (1881 - 1960)

When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
R. Buckminster Fuller

The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
Carl Becker

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.-- Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - )

A fascinating concept


at designboom

korean designer jinsu park designed a concept pen that adopts the eyedropper tool of photoshop for real life. the color picker pen enables colors in the environment to be scanned and instantly used for drawing. the sensor detects the color and matches it to the color display. then the RGB cartridge located within the pen mixes the inks together to create the color that has been scanned.

Diver Dan. Miss him. Just one for today. From myth_adventure and her awesome website.

( cut for size )

Oh yes, that's better.

But can't stop at just one.

( two is nicer )

Hi! I'd like to introduce a new stamping community I made, called baz_stamps. It is all related to Baz Luhrman movies. If you're interested, come on and join!

Nikola Tesla - 10 July 1856

[15] X-Men (Origins: Wolverine, X-Men 2)
[9]Star Wars
[8] Australia (including behind-the-scenes)
[4] X-Men wallpapers

+Don't hotlink.
+Textless are not bases.
+Comment, especially if you take.
+Credit shadadukal  (to credit, <*lj user="shadadukal"> just remove *)
+Ressources on my userinfo page.

Teaser:



See them all HERE.

Cordwainer Smith's future proposed that people would have small magnets placed under their skin, and clothes would be cloth with magnets that were draped at will. I'm a little surprised we aren't doing that now. And think how it would screw up airport monitors!

I, however, will be wearing black jeans and a grey singlet.

NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory snapped this shot of Stephan’s Quintet, a group of five galaxies, four of which are currently in collision. Click here for a larger picture.

Gingerbreadman dissection poster here

I posted this mostly so I could say
Puddy Had Bones!?!